Yellow Sun and Purple Horizon
by Guinea Pig Squeaks
Summary: A struggling lyricist forms a bond with a stranger who can not sing from the heart. Will the two be able to help one another with this newfound connection?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

A young man stood at the pier with his eyesight gazing upon the horizon. The sun had set, the yellow light gradually changed to an orange hue as the blue horizon darkened to a royal purple shade. Another day was spent staring at the vast, blue ocean without receiving any fruit of productivity. With a soft sigh, the blond man felt defeated and turned his back to the sea of disappointment before walking back to his home. At, least that was the plan.

"How pretty...The beach looks so beautiful when paired with a lovely sunset. Maybe a stroll along the shore will help me with lyrics."

Without a second thought, he changed his direction to walk parallel to the sea. The sound of the ocean waves crashing against the sand and the cool sea air was refreshing and soothing, however both did little to help his creativity. His relaxation slowly turned to worry as he realized his situation. His job required genius lyrics to be written in order to accompany and equally brilliant musical composition. If he couldn't manage to accomplish this his career would be over. This truly was his passion, but he had fallen into writer's block the past few days. In the beginning he would be able to write amazing lyrics within a few days, but as time progressed, it would take a day or two longer than usual until eventually it took nearly weeks. As of now, he was turning in work just minutes before the deadline. He needed inspiration quickly or else he would lose everything.

Thoughts of doubt clouded his mind, he nearly fell into a bout of tears had it not been for a soft, masculine singing voice that pushed the dark clouds in his mind away. The young man found himself following the voice which lead him to small cove with with a rock formation that seemed to form a small semi-circle pool. Within the structure was a dark haired man singing softly and beautifully to audience consisting only of the vocalist himself. Carefully, the blonde man approached the stranger as he quietly climbed the rocks to take a seat, but he yelped as he slipped which alerted the other.

"Wait! Wait! I can explain! I'm Natsuki, and I really love the sound of your voice. It was so relaxing. It cleared me of all my stress." The blond man explained. The stranger merely looked at him with frightened eyes, he would glance at Natsuki then back the sea. He was unsure of whether or not to remain here or swim away. They were within such a close distance that should he attempt to escape, he would be grabbed by the arm. Seeing as to it would be safer to respond, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"I'm T...Tokiya. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"So polite. Now I feel a little bad about sneaking up on you like that." Natsuki regained his footing and sat himself on top of the rocks. Tokiya moved away slightly to keep a distance, though the other clearly noticed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I suppose I get too friendly too quickly. I'll stay here." he flashed a reassuring smile to show he meant no harm to Tokiya. It wasn't much, but it did help the dark haired male feel safer. Perhaps he truly had nothing to fear from Natsuki.

"Forgive me. I tend to be wary of everyone and everything. Anyways...back to my voice. You said it calmed you?" Natsuki nodded.

"I was overcome with stress and thoughts of doubt, but it was as if your voice pulled me away from a chasm despair. Oh, that sounded great. It was dark, but that would make a lovely lyric with some polishing!" Tokiya tilted his head in confusion as he was unaware of Natsuki's profession. "Oh, I work with composers and singers to write lyrics to a song. Lately, writing lyrics has been difficult. It used to be second nature to me, but that's changed."

"I see. I've fallen into some trouble as well. Before, my voice was...Nothing. I just didn't expect to see someone find me here. It's been quite some time since my voice managed to attract anyone." He sighed and looked back at the sea with a sad gaze. Natsuki could see something was bothering Tokiya. He wanted to comfort his new friend, but it wasn't his place to tell him everything would be okay. "Look at me. We've only just met and yet I'm telling you something personal. You truly do have some aura of friendliness. It's nearly magical for a human."

"I guess? I mean your voice is enchanting too. All humans have some magic in their hearts. Hmm, what strange way to phrase that." he was confused by Tokiya's choice of the word human, but he figured it must be a quirk. "Oh, the sun is nearly gone. As much as the moonlight is pretty, it won't be helpful lighting the way back home. I should get going before it all fades away. Do you mind if we meet again tomorrow? This chat helped to spark some ideas in my head, and maybe we might be able to help each other. I didn't quite understand you earlier, but it sounds as if I helped you a bit too."

Tokiya bit his lip in hesitation at the proposal. There was truth in Natsuki's words, but it was too dangerous to get close. Though, if it worked out, he could have his problem solved for good. The positives outweighed the consequences. The choice was clear.

" Yes, that would be great. If you don't mind, since these conversations might be long, could we meet here again? Possibly earlier so you can find your way back home with sunlight."

"In that case, wouldn't it be easier to meet somewhere in between? Maybe at the pier?"

"No. Here." Tokiya insisted. There wasn't anything that would change his mind, and Natsuki was aware of this.

"I'll be here somewhere around the afternoon. It was great to meet you and I can't wait to see you again." With a chuckle and smile he left the cove to race the light back home. Once he was out of sight, Tokiya sighed in relief as he pulled himself up onto the rocks. Rather than legs, his lower body was a dark blue tail with two long fins at each side and another on the back. Though, once his tail was completely out of the sea, it had undergone some transformation to form a pair of legs. The process seemed to cause some pain and discomfort as it left Tokiya gasping.

"It's too painful to stay like this...Its better we meet like this and I keep my lower half hidden. Still, I hope I didn't make a mistake by getting to close." With a pained grunt, he returned back to the water where another painful transformation began. Once he managed to compose himself, he swam away back into the depths of the sea.

 _(Heavy writer's block on the story Love of Land and Sea. This one was inspired by a plot my friend and I had though it revolved around Syo and Ai. We took the old story and modernized it. Since I didn't want to write a second story with the same exact mermaid theme, I changed it a bit to fit the Natsuki Tokiya paring.)_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The sunlight greeted Natsuki as the warmth of the rays woke the young man from his peaceful slumber. He sat up with a yawn, his hand ran through his hair to push it away from his eyes to get a better look at the analog clock beside his bed. It took the drowsy blond a few minutes to properly read the clock hands, but as he returned to his senses with each passing second, he was finally able to correctly decipher the time of day.

"Plenty of time! If I hurry, I might be able to make something for us to snack on~" With a grin on his face, Natsuki climbed out of bed with a newfound positive attitude to help him achieve his goals for the day. After all, he was meeting with such an amazing singer with a voice so beautiful, it was almost inhuman.

A few hours later into the day, the blond haired man was on his way to the secluded beach where he met Tokiya just the other day. Further down the long sandy path, he was able see a figure which became clearer as he approached it. It was Tokiya. Natsuki was glad to see him again, a small part of him actually doubted he would have returned as promised. In fact, their encounter was far beyond strange, had Tokiya not been there, Natsuki would have believed their meeting to have been nothing but a fantasy weaved together by his dreams.

He ran to Tokiya, who was a bit confused at the human's enthusiasm. The personality he met the other day was somber, and almost hopeless. However, Tokiya felt the person he was seeing now was actually the true personality all along. With looks to match the cheery disposition, it should not have been all that shocking Tokiya thought. He nodded to himself, until a pair of strong arms suddenly pulled him back to reality.

"Sh-Shinomiya! That was uncalled for!" the dark haired man pried himself out of his grasp, and sat himself an arms length away from Natsuki. He submerged his body deeper into the dark water to hid his secret from the human.

"I'm sorry, but I'm excited for this! I even baked us some sweets to enjoy as we have our chat." He placed a cute little basket lined with a pink cloth between the two. Tokiya lifted the lid only to be hit with an odor pungent enough to consider fleeing the scene.

He wished it were an option, but no. He toughened up, and placed the top back on the basket. "Thank you, but...I...I can not digest anything with flour." Natsuki understood Tokiya's situation, even if it was a lie he was unaware of, and set the basket aside. The siren sighed in relief. Gullible human.

"Anyways...Yesterday you told me something about yourself. You said your voice couldn't attract people like it used to. Could you explain, please?"

Tokiya nodded. "In the past, my singing was enough too..." He stopped himself mid sentence. How could he trust a stranger he met so recently with a secret like this? Something about this human was strange. Was Natsuki simply this charismatic, or was he truly bewitched with a spell? Was Natsuki a mythical creature as well? Despite the answer, he needed to change the topic. "No, let's start with you. Tell me why you need help from me."

"Didn't I tell you? I used to have little to no trouble at all with lyrics, but now...I can hardly string together any words..." He sighed heavily as Tokiya watched. This man was far too trusting. It could be possible Natsuki was lying, but that was not the case.

A siren can sense feelings from humans, they fed off the positive emotions generated by their hearts. They could even tell if a person was lying to avoid consuming negative energy. Yes, Natsuki was clearly a human. A crestfallen one, but human nonetheless.

It had been some time since Tokiya was able to lure in a human, and though he could use Natsuki to his benefit, the human's heart was still shrouded by blanket of gloom. It was the main reason why he wanted to send Natsuki away to begin with. True, he could cheer Natsuki up by giving him what he desired, though that would take time. Time which would bring the two to dangerously close proximity. The siren had a secret to keep, but with the lack of sustenance, there was no other choice but to risk his secret in exchange for survival.

"Tokiya? Is something the matter? You fell silent."

"Hm? No, I'm quite alright. But, you said you wanted to meet at the pier?"

"I did, but you shot that idea down."

"I change my mind. We should go after all." Natsuki clapped his hand together in delight. His heart was beginning to dispel the clouds of despair in his heart much to Tokiya's delight, or rather his appetite.

* * *

Tokiya had sent Natsuki off first, both agreed to meet at the aquarium underneath the pier. He did not understand his reasoning, but so long as he could meet his new friend, Natsuki could care less.

There wasn't much waiting since Tokiya arrived shortly, though he was wearing rather strange, worn out clothes.

"Um...Is this what you normally wear?" Natsuki examined his beachwear. The pieces were obviously a mismatched pair of clothes from two different sets.

"N...No...I was swimming earlier so I only had this?" It was an awful lie, his tone was not enough to sell it. He expected to be caught, but that was not the case at all.

"I see! I can be the same way too actually. My friends say I can be some what of an airhead. Or a complete airhead. Really, they're nice people though!" This human really was something else.

* * *

Brushing off the event from earlier, Tokiya was treated to a quick shopping spree by Natsuki, who insisted since he did schedule this at the last minute. He rambled on and on about bringing out the male's beauty and cool through style and fashion. The siren could not care less, but since this activity was lightening the human's mood, it was the perfect opportunity to feed off his joy. Much to his own pleasure, feeding of Natsuki was simpler than imagined. Sirens fed through physical contact with humans, which is where their ability to acquire a set of human legs came into play. Many would use their voices to lure humans to themselves, where they would charm them into developing a shallow, but still joyful bond. Energy was passed through embracing, skin contact, and even mouth to mouth. In this case, Natsuki was overly aggressive with his affection. From hugging, to tugging, Tokiya received his fill of human joy. Perhaps a little too much.

When the two left the store, Natsuki collapsed onto a nearby bench, his eyes had lost their green shimmer, and dulled down to a cloudy shade of green. "Sorry...All of a sudden, I remembered why we met...and then a wave of sadness hit me...I wasted all our time." Tokiya had forgotten Natsuki was still in recovery. He would need to be careful from now on, and wait until the human's heart was mended and strong enough to support his feeding habits.

"It's fine. Perhaps you should return home."

He nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. But, I'm exhausted...Tokiya, would it be okay if you could walk me home? I don't trust myself in this state." Natsuki truly did trust Tokiya despite only just meeting him. He felt they were both in the same boat, broken and in need of help. He new it was stupid to have this much faith in a stranger, but he needed a friend now while he was in such a vulnerable state.

With the energy he drained earlier, it was enough to keep him human for at least well into the next day, but should he tempt fate and enter a human's home? This was an amazing opportunity to help Natsuki's heart. He could feel Natsuki was naturally an optimistic and trustful person. With such a strong personality, it would be enough to return him to his usual strength. Maybe even return his ability to lure humans with his voice. Once again, the positives outweigh the negatives.

"Of course. Allow this to be my way of paying you back."

Natsuki was too kind for his own good. Perhaps after having his fill, he might teach Natsuki a thing or two about locking his heart away.

However, there was more to the human and the siren would soon discover the true darkness in Natsuki's heart.


End file.
